Cinnamon Twists with an Apple-icious Twist

Today, my love of baking (or perhaps I should say my love of baked goods) and my love of photography have collided.

This week's photo challenge is "getting really close" (and since it's not yet Friday, you'll just have to come back in a couple days to see my project submission).  After I snapped a few photos, I thought I had a winner.  

Except I couldn't stop there!  I had re-discovered the macro setting on my camera and I was having too much fun to put my camera down (oh I know these pictures are nothing special, but when I use the regular settings on my camera, there is no way I can get this close and not have a blurry shot. Therefore, I am excited).  And as I was in the mood to bake today, you now get a little tutorial, complete with lots of up-close photos, on how to make Cinnamon Twists.

These cookies are so simple, and so delicious! 

Cinnamon Twists

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup milk

1 cup butter (softened)

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 - 2 cups cinnamon sugar
apple slices - optional

To make them, combine all ingredients except cinnamon sugar and apples in a large bowl.  

(See, I told you it was simple ;) )

Divide the dough into seven balls and chill. 

(Or don't chill, if you are impatient like me.)

Roll each ball flat in the cinnamon sugar. 

Using a pizza cutter, cut into 8 pie-like pieces.

Roll up each wedge starting at the wide end.

These don't rise much, so go ahead and place 20-24 on one cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Now, for a fun apple-icious twist, add a thin apple slice to each wedge before rolling!  

(I cut these apple slices in half lengthwise and stacked them after taking the picture.)

Bake as above.

It's an apple cinnamon twist!

Butter, cinnamon sugar, and apples. Does that combination ever fail?

Yummmmmmmmmm! (oh, and I'd suggest doubling the batch. That way they might last longer than a day!)

It's what's for dinner.

I don't know about you guys, but I sometimes get sick of trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

I'm not picky. If I were just cooking for Dean and I, menu making would be so much easier. We wouldn't eat the same thing twice in one month.  But when you have five kids, some picky... yeah, not so easy anymore. And I'm not willing to eat pizza, homemade or otherwise, every single week.

Surely I'm not the only one with this problem?  Surely I'm not the only one who wishes a month's worth of meal plans were handed out accompanied by the week's grocery list?  Oh, and of course the menu would feature meat and other groceries that happen to be on sale. Oh, and someone would come and do my dishes every night, perhaps do the cooking as well if I'd rather craft.

Oh, cows don't fly, you say? Shucks anyway.

Well, just in case you happen to be flipping through the same old recipes again and again, wishing up a planned menu, here's my faves.

This week I'm thinking ground beef (because I bought some on sale last week, of course).

Besides chili with corn bread (Jessica's Texas-Style Chili is really good),

and Mexican Curry (page 58 of the new Phoenix LLC cookbook if you happen to have it),

meatballs always work in this family. If you are ambitious, make a ton of them and freeze them for easier meals later.

photo by Taste of Home

Last night I made Meatball Calzones. Yum!

(I use PW's pizza dough rather than bread dough, 

and I make pizza sauce to go with it.)

I even make one without cheese and it satisfies us non-dairy eaters.

photo from Food Network

I have a new favorite though, Mini Meatball Soup (I made the meatballs with 1/4 part hot sausage). 

And the best thing about this recipe? You simply drop the meatballs in the simmering soup to cook them (make this meal on your meatball making day)!

One less pan to wash and more flavor in the soup!

Still have meatballs rolling around?  Make meatball subs, or Meatball Sliders.

And, I wasn't even going to suggest it, but how about *cringe* PW's Spaghetti and Meatballs?  No seriously, I know you all make spaghetti and lasagna already, but the kids do eat it and this recipe is flavorful.

Okay, so there you have it.  My fall-backs when it's ground beef in my freezer.

Oh, and if you've got any beef with me, feel free to share. This time I won't mind. ;)

Stromboli

I feel like I need to post a Christmas recipe.  This is not a Christmas recipe. Unless you eat pizza on Christmas Eve, then it could be a Christmas recipe.  We've had bagel bites on Christmas Eve before, but not pizza, and not stromboli.
We love homemade pizza.  I love it because it is something all my kids will eat.  Each time I make it, I slip in a few more veggies and each time my picky ones eat it, they get a little more accustomed to the green stuff.
I also throw a little bit of wheat flour and flax seed into the crust (a little trick I learned from my M-I-L); its more filling and it makes me feel like we're eating healthier.
I could make it every week and the kids wouldn't complain.
However, I was running out of creative ideas as far as pizza and my kids go.
So last week I tried Stromboli, and I don't think my kids will let me go back to regular old pizza again.

It's fun to make, and just as easy as pizza. Try it some time!

The recipe:

Stromboli


1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed 
  or pizza crust  (I love PW's pizza crust)
Italian seasoning
4 c. shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese
toppings of choice, such as salami, ham, sausage, red onion, bell peppers, spinach


Roll out dough into two 10 x 15 inch rectangles on floured surface. Sprinkle dough with Italian seasoning. Cover each rectangle with 2 cups of cheese, and all your toppings. Press toppings gently into dough. 
Starting with the long side of the rectangle, roll the dough into a log shape.  Seal the end by pinching the dough together.
Carefully lift onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise to 30-40 minutes.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, or until lightly browned.
Allow to stand for 10 minutes before slicing thickly.  Serve with warm pizza sauce.

Fresh Pumpkins Make the Best Pie!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, time to bake those pumpkins!

And before you dismiss the idea completely for its difficulty, I urge you to try it once if you haven't already.  You just might become hooked once you eat a made-from-scratch pumpkin pie.

You need a pumpkin. Mine is a pie pumpkin, or small sugar pumpkin (photo 1), they are darker in color and sweeter than the large decorative pumpkins.

Cut the pumpkin in half, and remove all the seeds and strings.  This is the hardest part. See the gooey, grimy, gopher guts (photo 2). Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Save the seeds if you want to rinse, dry, and roast them or if you want to dry them for planting next year. I roasted mine. Half of the seeds were seasoned with paprika and chili powder, the other half were tossed in cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice) and sugar. Get creative!  Bake the seeds in one layer on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Back to the pumpkin: Place your pumpkin halves face down in a baking dish and fill the dish with a little bit of water. This helps keep the pumpkin flesh moist (photo 3).  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes, or until its easy to pierce with a fork.

Once cool, scrape the flesh out of the pumpkin and puree in a food processor (photo 4). This pumpkin yielded about 2 cups pumpkin puree.

Now we're talking! Lets bake!

One of my favorite pumpkin recipes is Harvest Loaf Muffins. Beware, though, they are addicting! See the recipe over on Jessica's blog.

This pumpkin puree, however, is going in a pie - a caramel-pecan pumpkin pie to be specific.

Are you in charge of pies this year for Thanksgiving?  Here's a yummy variation to the traditional pumpkin pie:

Caramel-Pecan Pumpkin Pie

1 pie crust

2 slightly beaten eggs

1 15-oz can pumpkin, or about 2 c. pureed pumpkin

1/4 c. half-and-half, light cream, or milk

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. allspice

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. chopped pecans

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

In a large bowl stir together eggs, pumpkin, and half-and-half. Stir in the granulated sugar, flour, lemon peel, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Pour pumpkin mixture into your pastry lined pie plate. To prevent over-browning, cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir together the brown sugar, pecans, and butter until combined. Remove foil. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over top of pie. Bake for 20 minutes more or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and topping is golden and bubbly. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours.

Vegetable Alfredo Lasagna

My kids do not eat vegetables.
Do your kids eat them?
I have three picky eaters.
Where'd I go wrong?
Anyway, they (my kids) sent me to the library, saying 
"Mom read this book!  We know we should eat, but you are doing it all wrong!"

This book has a lot of great advice.  It's a method for meal times that is stress-free. Its great! If you can get your childhood out of your head and remember not to say, "If you don't eat your dinner, no dessert for you!" 
I guess I need to tell them to buy the book for me so I can make it my new centerpiece.


Anyway, back to vegetables, which my kids won't eat...
unless they are in this Vegetable Alfredo Lasagna! And its packed full of spinach!
This is a delicious recipe. While its a bit of work, its worth it!

Vegetable Alfredo Lasagna


9 lasagna noodles
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-2 carrots, shredded
4 c. fresh, chopped spinach, or
  10-oz pkg. chopped frozen spinach, 
  thawed and squeezed dry
1 c. chopped broccoli
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
17-oz. jar Alfredo sauce, divided
15-oz. carton ricotta cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 c. shredded Colby, or Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese


Cook the lasagna noodles, set aside.
In large skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until crisp-tender. Add carrots, spinach, broccoli, salt, and pepper.
Remove 1/2 c. Alfredo sauce for the bottom of your 9 x 13 pan. Stir remaining sauce into skillet. Mix and heat thoroughly. Set aside.
Combine ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, egg, and Colby or Mont. Jack cheese in a large bowl. Mix well.
Layer noodles, one-third of the cheese mixture, and one-third of the Alfredo sauce mixture into your pan. Repeat layers. Top with mozzarella cheese.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes more.


Note: I sometimes add chopped, cooked chicken to this recipe. It pleases Dad that way too! :)